According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the definition of a "hacker" has shifted over time. While it used to refer to someone who was extremely proficient in computer systems and used these skills to get the most out of his or her personal computer, a hacker is now widely known as an individual who maliciously gains access to data that he or she does not own or does not have authorization to view. Though the methods which they use are sometimes very complex, some of the most common methods of hacking, such as password cracking and exploitation of known system weaknesses, can be extremely straightforward (with no more effort than a bit of guesswork involved). Popular culture often depicts hackers as having the ability to break into any system in seconds (for example, Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network and Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), but there is usually more than one step to the process.
The first step to breaking into a user's system usually involves running a system profiling software. This type of program gives a hacker a detailed view of the software running on a computer, most importantly the operating system. From this data, it is possible to understand some of the functional holes in the system, which may make a hacker's job easier. From here, many hackers will move on to password cracking. This job is often quite easy because in general, many users use "weak" passwords that are easily guessed without any extra aid. Some of the most common passwords (like "12345," "Qwerty," and "iloveyou") are not only used by millions of users, but are short in the amount of characters they use and often do not contain a mixture of characters (such as letters, numbers, capitals, and symbols). However, one of the fastest ways to crack more secure passwords is through the use of rainbow tables. Rainbow tables create a set of dictionaries that are able to compare user passwords at incredible speeds. However, there are deterrents to this type of online attack (such as salt), which would cause each comparison by the rainbow table to take up too much space to be efficient.
Overview
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the definition of a "hacker" has shifted over time. While it used to refer to someone who was extremely proficient in computer systems and used these skills to get the most out of his or her personal computer, a hacker is now widely known as an individual who maliciously gains access to data that he or she does not own or does not have authorization to view. Though the methods which they use are sometimes very complex, some of the most common methods of hacking, such as password cracking and exploitation of known system weaknesses, can be extremely straightforward (with no more effort than a bit of guesswork involved). Popular culture often depicts hackers as having the ability to break into any system in seconds (for example, Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network and Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), but there is usually more than one step to the process.The first step to breaking into a user's system usually involves running a system profiling software. This type of program gives a hacker a detailed view of the software running on a computer, most importantly the operating system. From this data, it is possible to understand some of the functional holes in the system, which may make a hacker's job easier. From here, many hackers will move on to password cracking. This job is often quite easy because in general, many users use "weak" passwords that are easily guessed without any extra aid. Some of the most common passwords (like "12345," "Qwerty," and "iloveyou") are not only used by millions of users, but are short in the amount of characters they use and often do not contain a mixture of characters (such as letters, numbers, capitals, and symbols). However, one of the fastest ways to crack more secure passwords is through the use of rainbow tables. Rainbow tables create a set of dictionaries that are able to compare user passwords at incredible speeds. However, there are deterrents to this type of online attack (such as salt), which would cause each comparison by the rainbow table to take up too much space to be efficient.
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